I'm not a morning person and I love to sleep, so waking up and getting out of bed has always been a challenge for me. Plus I hate to wake up when it's still dark outside. It just feels cold, lonely and depressing. And when the alarm starts blasting it always feels as if I'm being jarred awake and jerked out of something pleasant and wonderful and I have hated that for 45 years, so when I saw something that could potentially make waking up less traumatic I was intrigued. I had to try it.
I am happy to report and pleased to say that this light has changed how disconcerting and difficult waking up is. It has significantly reduced the trauma level that goes with being dynamited out of a wonderful and pleasant sleep.
Dare I say, it is at times - amazingly enough - actually (gasp) PLEASANT to wake up!
When I now wake up, it's light in my room, and because of the light I can set my iPhone alarm to half the volume I used to need. So no more waking up in the dark. No more being jerked from a pleasant sleep in a terribly unpleasant way. Now I seem to be close to the surface when my iPhone alarm goes off, and I drift upwards into wakefulness, rested and un-traumatized from the waking process.
I actually find it pleasant to wake up and have the light shining in my bedroom.
All in all, I will say that the trauma factor of waking up is now about a third or less of what it was before my new Wake-Up Light. I no longer dread the screaming morning alarm because now there isn't one. I no longer have to wake up in the dark. I have a much easier time waking up.
If you need to reduce the volume level of your alarm due to family member considerations this may also be a good answer to that problem. People in other rooms can't hear a light, and if you need to use an alarm clock in conjunction with the light the volume can be significantly reduced while still being effective. I find the combination of a light alarm and a sound based alarm to be both effective and significantly more pleasant than a sound based alarm only.
The light is relatively easy to set up, the documentation on how to do so is correct and easy to follow, and once you set the alarm once or twice the process on how to do it easily remembered.
There is an alarm #1 which I use during the week and an alarm #2 which I use for the weekend.
The clock face brightness can be dimmed so that it's not intrusive in the dark. In the dark I have to look directly at the clock to even notice that the clock is lit.
The light that you wake up to can be varied in intensity, and the hue of the light changes also. The light begins to illuminate weakly about 30 minutes before the alarm time that you have set and increases in intensity over the next 30 minutes, so it very gently and unobtrusively begins the process of waking you up in plenty of time to have a gentle ramp-up to wakefulness. I have it set at the halfway point for final brightness, which in daylight doesn't seem bright at all, however at 5:00 AM it's bright enough without being overpowering, and the shade of the light is like a nice morning sunrise.
The shape is a nice round-ish shape with a flat section on the bottom to hold it upright, and it leans slightly back to keep it from tipping over. It feels very solid. I would take care not to drop it, but if it were dropped on carpet or a heavy rug it would almost certainly survive I would think. I would not want to drop it on a harder surface though. The cord is long enough so that the electrical outlet doesn't need to be directly behind the nightstand. Mine is about 3 feet away approximately and the cord is long enough that it connects.
I highly recommend it if you're looking for a more pleasant (or just less traumatic) way of waking up.
Good luck, and happy sleeping!
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From the brand
From the manufacturer
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| Philips SmartSleep Wake-up Light HF3520/60 | Philips SmartSleep Connected Sleep and Wake-Up Light HF3670/60 | Philips SmartSleep Sleep and Wake-Up Light HF3650/60 | Philips Wake-up Light HF3500/60 | |
| Customer Reviews |
14,039
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1,481
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1,166
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7,374
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| Price | $108.95 | $219.95 | $179.95 | $47.99 |
| Simulation | Sunrise and sunset | Sunrise and sunset | Sunrise and sunset | Sunrise |
| Brightness Settings | 20 | 25 | 25 | 10 |
| Light intensity | 300 LUX | 315 LUX | 310 LUX | 200 LUX |
| Wake-up sounds | 5 | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| Wind-down Program | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| SleepMapper app enabled | ✓ | |||
| Charges mobile phone | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Sleep Environment Tracker | ✓ | |||
| Midnight Light | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Power back-up alarm | ✓ | ✓ |
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What I Wish I Knew About Philips Alarm Clock Before Buying!
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Honest Review of Philips Smart Sleep Wake Clock
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Compare with similar items
This Item  Philips SmartSleep Wake-up Light, Colored Sunrise and Sunset Simulation, 5 Natural Sounds, FM Radio & Reading Lamp, Tap Snooze, HF3520/60 |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $108.95 | $49.99 | -14% $36.99 List: $42.99 | $179.95 | $52.98 | $49.99 |
| Delivery | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Brightness | ||||||
| Sleep mode | ||||||
| Easy to read | ||||||
| Easy to use | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Sold By | Amazon.com | E-BUYZ | Winshine | Amazon.com | Doreg-US | ReacherDirect |
| style | Colored Sunrise Simulation | — | Sunrise Alarm Clock | Non-App Enabled | Modern | Modern |
| light source type | Fluorescent | LED | LED | LED | LED | LED |
| material | Plastic | — | Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, Polypropylene | — | Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene | Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene |
| power source | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Battery Powered | Corded Electric | Corded Electric |
| light sources | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| wattage | 16.5 watts | 5 watts | 3 watts | 18 watts | — | 3 watts |
Reviews with images
Diminished quality
Got this product back in 2019 after moving into a room with no windows. It truly is great at waking you up in a calm way and lighting up a dark room—no complaints about that, and the different alarm options are nice. In 2023 though, after 4 years of everyday use, it randomly shut off while still plugged in. It wouldn’t seem to turn back on, but after some research, some Reddit threads, where users experienced the same issue, suggested leaving it unplugged for a few a days for it to turn on again. This method worked. This issue then happened about 3 more times across the next few months. This was a little frustrating. Then, after the 4th time of it randomly turning off, and me leaving it unplugged for a while, I went to plug it back in and saw a flash of bright light, and then dead again. I figured maybe it officially short circuited, but it put in a few good years so time to replace. Upon just now getting my new one, the only thing I’ve noticed is that for relatively the same price, this new one is wayyyyy lower quality. The old was made of a glass-like material with a little bit of a translucent quality, and was heavier (generally just looked slicker). This new one though looks like a matte plastic material that I’m sure will work the same but just doesn’t look as nice as the old one. Same price tho…
Top reviews from other countries
Seld17
however after using this I feel it is totally worth it and I'm extremely satisfied having bought it on sale
Reviewed in Canada on September 10, 2016
Seld17
Reviewed in Canada on September 10, 2016
Main features :
-whole wake-up light thing:
As advertised you set a time and set a sunrise time. The sunrise time is how long before your alarm goes off the product starts emulating a sunrise i.e alarm clock set at 6 am and sunrise time is 30 min : at 5:30 the sunrise starts and at 6 the alarm starts accompanied by the max brightness setting you chose. Basically, it'll start with very deep red all the way to searing of your eyes **insert spongebob patrick meme** (by which I mean this lamp gets really bright) white light with your alarm going off. You choose how bright you want it to be so you can tone down the whole searing your eyes part to satisfaction. I personally have trouble getting up and thought I might as well try this product to remedy the getting up part and it has helped immensely. It has happened to me multiple times in my past few week to wake up BEFORE my alarm goes off. I'm waking up just to the light and it feels awesome with minimal drowsiness and with a state of rest that i'm able to get up. There is no zombie like wake up part. Works for me just as advertised. Also, there is a demo mode so you can see in accelerated mode (90 seconds) the sunrise from deep red to white with the alarm sound/music of your alarm. To snooze you just touch the front part pretty much anywhere and it will snooze.
- overlooked sunset feature:
This is by far my favorite feature. You set a time between 5 and 60 minutes(available options : 0,5,10,15,20,30,45,60) for your sunset. You set the initial brightness to adjust again the whole searing eyes part. It then goes in reverse order of sunrise from white through orange then red till off. The red is really deep and I got slightly scared the 1st time it felt like my room was suddenly out of the shining or Dexter being covered in blood. The best part is it really triggers you to fall asleep. I've also a lot of trouble falling asleep and this really eases me into drowsiness without drugs regardless what I'm doing (in my case reading). Also, it helps get to bed on a more precise time. In my case I'd usually try and read to fall asleep and i'd just end up reading for hours and not falling asleep or going to sleep really late. With this, well it's time to go to sleep when there is no more light since it goes completely off (time display remains on) and I'm usually real sleepy by the end of the cycle. I honestly love this feature more then the wake-up. It give a limit on your bedtime routine and I really like that.
Other features:
The product obviously offers regular options 2 alarms, sounds or fm radio(no am if i remember correctly), 12h or 24h time display and awesome rubber feet to keep it on your table. Honestly, those rubber feet have serious traction i.e i have a train track nearby that usually shakes the hell of everything on my bedside table, this lamp doesn't give a s*** about it and stays firmly in place.
Downsides (or what I've read) :
I read quite a bit online to see if there were any glaring issues with the product. What I've found :
-button placement hard to find:
FALSE, the buttons are placed on the edge of the product so looking directly at the product(like looking at the time display) you can't really see them since you would only be seeing the height of the button/ travel distance of the button. It's true you have to grope around a little to find the correct button but I don't feel this is a problem. 1. they are well spaced (see pictures) 2. the buttons that are grouped up (radio and brightness) have a high ridge separating each button of the group so you can easily distinguish the different buttons (see pictures with 3 buttons close up).
-12h to 24h switch complicated:
FALSE, the manual that comes with the product has extremely clear instructions of how to change it between 12h and 24h setting.
-disappointing waves (sounds):
TRUE, this is the sad one. One of the available 5 sounds that can be chosen instead of the radio, is supposed to be waves/ocean sounds. It actually is more of seagulls squealing with a little bit of waves in the background. However, there are 4 other choices which you should be able to find something to float your boat (satisfaction).
Final thoughts:
The display has various brightness settings that can make it very dim. The display menu to set alarm/clock time/brightness/etc. is very easy to use the only tricky thing can be to touch the buttons (capacitive) which sometimes doesn't register your touch or you're not pressing the adequate location, but it's not something I usually play a lot with since I dont constantly change my settings. Also, it usually takes 1 failed attempt to get a good feel of where to press so it registers on all following attempts. Also, I wouldn't recommend using this as a night lamp replacement to read from a book. I feel the light it shines is too diffuse. Don't get me wrong the light can get very bright but it's all over the place so to read from a book(paper) using only this product as lighting may require some fancy footwork or positioning to get the right angle to have enough light.
So, this product has met everything specified by the manufacturer, the manual is crystal clear, everything works as advertised and it works for me. I highly recommend this product if you have trouble going to sleep / waking up. This product has no marketing scams that I have found. If it goes on sale buy it and enjoy!
Images in this review
